During the earlier days of my little
CV3 Page, Sailor Moon was one of my favorite shows, so Links
sported a Saler Linx section. A few seasons
later, Evangelion dropped HARD, leading to a corner of its
own (New Century EVANGELION!!!). Thanks
to Evangelion, Parodius, and page 18 of the Mario Paint
manual, 1998 marked the birth of my understanding of and attraction
to Japanese culture. Eventually, Sailor
Jupiter and Unit 2 joined the rest of JPN's best in one huge rundown,
"The Rising Sun of Japan!", named after one of my
favorite moments in a Robot Carnival short.
In about August of 2000, following
a bargain sale at Asahiya Bookstores, E-Login magazine introduced
me to a naughty H-Game called Elysion ~Eternal Sanctuary~.
Looking past its adult genre, I found everything visual about this
game to be beautifully done. At the same time, the main chicks were
maids. Coincidentally, I was working
on a certain story at the time. In the summer of 2000, I realized,
"Hey! I really like Maid Characters!"
A few years later, I became aware
of Cure Maid Café,
the first of its kind where the waitresses are...GUESS. Later
on, I had heard from a Japanese friend that the Maid Café
industry had blown up HUGETIME since their last visit; I had always
wanted to go to Akihabara for its anime and game stores, but at that
moment, I really, really, REALLY wanted to go to a Maid Café.
THUS, I have redubbed the Japan section of DCTP's Links...
MAID IN
JPN!
The
Anime Web Turnpike
The Anime Web Turnpike. You can go ANYWHERE from there.
T2
ART WORKS
Formerly known as Tony Tiny World
BEAUTIFUL CG ART! Many of them from this shito bashing series.
Gainax
Creators of what is sure to leave a lasting mark in the 21st century,
Neon Genesis Evangelion, as well as Kare Kano, FLCL, and Nadia! These
guys KNOW what they're doing.
ADV
Films
Well, who'd you EXPECT to release Shin Seiki Evangelion to VHS?
Manga
Video
Formerly @ http://www.manga2000.com/
Guess ADV was too broke to release THE END OF EVANGELION after splurging
on the series, ah? THE END is soon.
Image
Anime
My gold mine in Manhattan. Got your 80x102cm Asuka wallscroll yet?
Eternally
Asuka
To explain to you one of anime's numerous goddesses, here's a good
site.
Mysteries
Quotes & Games [Evangelion]
Do you have the smarts to save the Second from certain death? Play
HangAsuka!
Evangelion:
Children of Dawn
Formerly @ http://members.tripod.com/~Seiyuu/
Very cool and readable Evangelion fanfic!
Keiji
Gotoh Official Site
Keiji Gotoh. You haven't seen round eyes until you've seen most of
his girl characters. Hair bangs almost never covering their eyes,
very liney rendering of fabrics, smoothly shining skin, and almost
boneless fingers and extremeties also hint at his style. He's worked
on Hyper Police, Nadesico, Those Who Hunt Elves, Aquarian Age, and
Gatekeepers! He's definiately an anime artist to keep an eye on. I
study under Keiji Gotoh, fool! He was on the D, I was on the Nadesico!
Get your Japanese plugins ready.
NewType Magazine
Formerly @ http://www.web-newtype.com
My favorite publication has finally debuted its site! While
it is in Japanese, NewType's cool because it keeps you up to date
on the latest anime, includes tons of cool two-page spreads, and comes
with posters and other neat bonuses! It used to run Mamoru Nagano's
The Five Star Stories, but the 10 year old serial ended earlier in
2000. It now runs Angel/Dust by Aoi Nanase, of Seraphim Call fame!
Toei Animation Studios
Sailor Moon. Digimon Adventure Zero Two. Dragonball Z. G.I. Joe The
Movie. Freakin' TRANSFORMERS. The best known anime of all time were
created here, and will continue to be.
The We Have Way Too Much Time on Our Hands Image
Archive: Neoranga
Neoranga! I have Soundtrack 1, but know little about this series,
but the character design, color design, and other artwork is ABSOLUTELY
SPECTACULAR!!! Check out some pictures here!
EX
This site sorta has an overblown industry look to it, but it's still
a good place to learn about anime the USA hasn't formally received
yet.
The
Top Ten Anime Babes of ALL TIME!!!
Enough said.
TOYSPRESS
Previously listed as "Mamoru Nagano's ToysPress"
and @ http://www.toyspress.com/
Check out Mamoru Nagano, one of my top 6. His artwork is a style all
its own, additonally, his mechanical drawings are the most detailed
I've ever encountered! He ROCKS! Works include The Five Star Stories,
Virtual On, Virtua Fighter, Brain Powered, and Schell Bullet. I study
under Mamoru Nagano, fool! He was on the D, I was on the Jagd Mirage!
Broccoli
The characters from the software and anime series De Gi Charat and
the manga Pita Ten have also eyes which comprise about 54% of their
body size. The promo artwork for the show was also beautiful, with
its large, jewel-like eyes, rendering of fabric, and other special
colorization tricks with Photoshop J. Usada rocks! Here's the home
base for the De Gi Charat crew. Get 'em, Usada!
Love
Hina
Love Hina! Naru Narusegawa, who I assume to be this show's star, is
a subtle looker as an anime character. I should know; her image was
sprayed all over several Animation, NewType, and Animage mag covers
earlier in 2000...until a Sakura Wars personell took over. What IS
this show about, anyway? On the side, I think I recognize the character
design as similar to To Heart and Steel Angel Kurumi.
Studio Radix
Producers of Nanako's Anatomy Report/Amazing Nurse Nanako! They did
a notable job on the computer graphics for this show.
Macross
Check out what our Macross crew is up to these days! You may be surprised.
BeSTACK
This group has released several Seraphim call soundtrack albums. One
for each girl. That's 12. "Um,...Damn."
SEVENTH
HEAVEN
Formerly known as "Seventh Heaven: Aoi Nanase
Official Site" and @ http://www.aoinanase.gr.jp/
Aoi Nanase. Or is is Nanase Aoi? In any event, her artwork is BEAUTIFUL,
and can be identified by similar facial structures in her female characters,
similar structure of character side profiles, along with handling
of the unique (but commonplace to the untrained critic) eye shape.
She knows feminine structures well, and is an ACE when it comes to
colors. She used to draw a monthly column in Newtype magazine...until
succeeding Mamoru Nagano with her amazing Angel/Dust serial! Aoi Nanase
has also worked on Samurai Spirits OVA, Seraphim Call, and a recent
PlayStation game, title of which escapes me at the moment. You go,
Aoi Nanase! At the Japanese site, find the pictures in the two sections
beneath the CM option, and explore the rest of the site for even more.
Fire up your printer!
Animerica
Formerly known as "Animerica Magazine" and
@ http://www.animerica-mag.com/
This was THE OFFICIAL READING MATERIAL for my first and second years
at college. Gotta love Big City Manhattan! ...shikashii (...but)...something
happened...what it was, I would say if I could reckon... Good magazine
anyway. A bit pro-Pokemon, but a good magazine, with brutal import
reviews, useful domestic anime video reviews, and Galaxy Express 999
serials!
Digimon Movie.com
(Though this old descriptor is for the 2000 mashup,
the URL currently points to the recent Digimon Savers movie. --6-22-2009)
The Children's War Game. The rating for the Digimon movie has come
in! And you know what?! It's PG!!! BITE IT, POKE-MON! Join War Greymon,
Metal Garurumon, Diablomon and the Ultimate Omegamon in this dramatic
departure from the usual stylings of the television show. Diablomon
is NOT a pretty sight...
Feeling Heart
Way to go, K.S.S., Leaf, and Aquaplus, for this great show. While
containing neither explosions nor deaths (as Sachi the fansubber said),
To Heart was still one of those cool laid-back shows to just put in,
relax, laugh a bit, chill out, and feel COASTIN to. Additionally,
the authentic interactions between the characters helped me catch
up on the High School semester in Japan I missed while at Hayes...
Get 'em, Akari! Get 'em, Kotone! Here's a very cool and nicely-designed
site on the To Heart anime. Packed with loads of info, pictures, and
other goodies, are you Feeling Heart, Mister Tough Guy?
Kinokuniya
Book Store Home Page
One reason why Midtown is the center of the Manhattan Universe, according
to I. Pick up your NewTypes, Keiji Gotoh Illustration books, Evangelion
100% Newtype Collections, and Mamoru Nagano's Five Star Stories here!
Asahiya Bookstores
In the shadow of the growing, magnifique, yet office-filled Bear Sterns
building, and on the same street as Japanese Video Rental Place HQ
Video, is another reason why Midtown rules. Shout out to Andre, one
of the coolest security guards there ever was. And to Asahiya Bookstores,
consistently providing the awesome anime books and magazines. If you're
lucky, you'll run into a BARGAIN sale! TEN MANGA DIGESTS/ITEMS FOR
ONE DOLLAR ON THE LAST DAY OF THE SALE! BEAT THAT, E-BAE!
RoBot
DataBase TopPage
Another chronological listing of Giant Robot shows with production
notes, where applicable.
Polykarbon.com
Discover all the sweet digicoloring tricks Photoshop can do! Scope
the tutorials and the sections on Japan in one VERY nice site.
Kabachitare!
A favorite Japanese drama that ran in early 2001 and introduced me
to the adorable Takako Tokiwa! Unfortunately, all that remains of
its sparkling site is this little memorial thanking fans for tuning
in. By the way, "Kabachitare!" means something to the effect
of "gotcha!", as there were a lot of those moments on the
show.
Boku
no Marie
One of the first sites I found during my search for My Dear Marie
sites in 1999. Focuses on the manga and features a couple of links.
THE
J!-ENT DORAMA DATABASE
Indeed, I have fallen victim to the charm of Japanese. This thankfully
ENGLISH site is pretty useful if you want to see what your favorite
anime voice actors or drama actors/actresses might be up to.
Engrish.com
Formerly known as Japanese Engrish
The Funk DOC himself told me that this was "a site BEGGING to
be added to" my Links. Nothing...NOTHING could prepare me for
what I saw after clicking it...
-
= - Picture Shrines - = - 
Formerly @ http://www.ironmouse.dhs.org/dragon/
An enormously large collection of pics of your favorite (female) anime
characters! Asuka Soryu, Nanako Shichigusa, and yes, Miyuki-chan is
here as well! Check it out. Oh...you must be eight teen to enter some
of it. But you probably wont listen to me anyway, will you?
AKANEfan's
homepage
Formerly @ http://member.nifty.ne.jp/AKANEfan/
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! FINALLY, A PAGE FOR PARODIUS
AKANE FANS! Could use more pictures, but can I complain?
Digimon
V-Tamer Manga (Translated)
Want to see the original, totally different from the show, Digimon
manga? Translated? Boom. There you go.
The
Shining Evolution - Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia
Formerly "Megchan's Digimon Encyclopedia"
and @ http://www.megchan.com/digimon/encyclopedia.html
This comprehensive site features dozens of reasons why the creature
design of Digimon is superior to the subordinate Imperial, as well
as origins of all those tricky names.
Oscar
Promotions
Formerly http://www.oscarpro.co.jp/talent/yonekura/index.html
The talent agency to which Ryoko Yoneukura belongs. She played the
role of Mariko in the Japanese TV drama "Love Revolution".
And she looked cute as ***K doing it, too, outshining the main character
in my book. ::sigh::.....why I...?
Yoshikazu
Yagishita Films
And here is where you can find an exceptional photo collection of
said dream girl. ^_^ After entering the site, hit "Media Remix"
and then the first link after that. Enjoy.
Carnelian
Formerly @ http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/carnelian/
I had long ago come to a conclusion that is both obvious and controversial...
Hentai is educational. Huh? Yeah, it is. Just look at it. It's
art. Many of the pieces are, fundamentally, professionally executed
artworks in themselves. You need some degree of skill to pull
these off, baby. For more evidence, take a look at these Kao
no nai Tsuki and Elysion scenes.
Shoot, I even have Utatane Hiroyuki's Temptation and Countdown
books on hand whenever I needed help on a waist contour. Lounging
around near the top of my list with the names of Hiroyuki and Nanase,
though, you will also find the name Carnelian. As far as I've been
able to learn, Carnelian is the penname of a female H illustrator!
I should've known all along. Female artists always bring that feminine
sense to the drawing table. This is the main base of a place to get
acquainted with her beautiful stylings. It's in Japanese, but it's
pretty straightforward. Just hit the Gallery image-link.
OCN
Translation Service
Have you ever been browsing the Japanside of the WorldWide and thought
to yourself, "...WAIT A SEC!!! WHAT THE HECK DOES ALL THIS MEAN?!"
Well, now you'll know...sort of! Here's what you do. After you hit
the link, you'll arrive at a box with a couple of tabs above. Hit
the tab with the linky text, then paste your cryptic page's address.
Select the second option above it (for translating into English),
and you're set! A new window opens up, showing OCN's English interpretation
of the Japanese page. Now you know...and knowing is half the battle.
YO JIMBO!
[P.S. Remember that box we first saw? It's a text translator that
can translate up to 4,000 ASDFs at a time; the default option translates
your paste into Japanese. The second translates Japanese into English,
aaaaaand, I'm not really sure what the others do...happy experimenting!]
4chan.org
I think I first came across this place in 2003. 4chan is a phenom
featuring dozens of image boards that strike many a fancy, be they
extreme machines or extremely hot lesbian action sequences. My favorite
spot? Close, ...but way off! The Flash section! The climate in Channel
F can be quite unpredictable, but from this screwed storm I've occasionally
picked up some great animations and games, along with a lot of hilarity!
Futaba
Channel
...and this nearly illegible image board is where sites like 4chan
got their start!
Good thing I hit you off with the OCN,
ne?
Idlechannel
Imageboard
It seems as if this attempt at an English Futaba Channel was too lazy
for Arabic, so it went with Roman Numerals instead. :p It seems a
slower, sleepier sort of place, but quite a few sections here cater
to a nichier set of tastes. Hey, it's even got a Flash section, too!
Victorian
Romance Emma
Home base for the Victorian Romance Emma manga and anime series.
It was mid-200V when, at Asahiya Bookstores' new location, I came
across an issue of Comic Beam featuring a calmly purty, bespectacled
meido standing beneath flowered arches before a garden. A maid...with
glasses...as the main character...? Theoretically, I should
automatically dig this. I picked up the tome, skimmed the Emma pages,
dismissed it as 'eh...' and put it down.
Those were dark times...
Later in the age, things brightened up a little, and Emma reentered
the picture. This time I was more willing to look into it, and when
I dropped the DVD into my player, it was love at first slam. I totally
dug it: the setting, the characters, the taste of the atmosphere,
the story, the keen use of CG, everything; I fell hard. A year or
two later, the Emma manga arrives in The States...AWESOME! It is has
been said that Emma's 2002 arrival helped to galvanize Japan's attraction
to maid characters and cafés, and I wouldn't doubt it. This
scenario is just...too...SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET! And Hakim is THE
MAN!!!
Emma:
A Victorian Romance
Hell, yeah!!! Within the droves of crap that's been making
its way to The States in recent years, someone actually noticed this
gem of a series and decided to spread it about USAside! Right Stuf's
official site!
Cure
Maid Café
I REALLY WANT TO GO TO A MAID CAFE. THAT
WOULD BE AWESOME.
Legend has it...this is where it all began...
Megatokyo
In the spring of 2009, I had identified Megatokyo as the web comic
I had first noticed (in passing)
during the Web Design Class that would introduce me to Flash. Though
I don't remember which site had it linked, I do recall part of the
description given for it; "...pay close attention to the eyes
on this one." I also remember thinking that Megatokyo's long-standing
motto ("Relax...we understand j00") was simply referring
to the scrambled JIS code that would display if you lacked the language
plug-ins. That was damnear NINE years ago, and since then, Megatokyo
has YET to let up on its tale of a pair of fanboys trapped in heaven.
Check it out.
The
Seraphim Call Publication Catalogue
That is the most complicated title for a Seraphim Call page I've ever
seen. ._. Zennyway, this sweet little spot has collected all sorts
of SC paraphernalia, including purdy magazine covers. Despite having
some interesting story (and for one episode, camera) angles, it sucks
that this show, which I had spent nearly seven years hoping to see,
wasn't even half as good as I thought it'd be... :[ :[ :[ :[ :[
Had to give five sads on that one...
Anime
News Network
Need the jist of this show? Need to know who sang for that one? Get
a full breakdown, along with the latest news, at ANN! Bite it, FOkX!
TheRossman
dot com
If Seanbaby ever wrote about anime, then The Rossman would be his
mentor. In addition to the occasional book, film, or job experience,
The Well-Versed Rossman's got TONZ of amusing and very well written
articles on loads of anime and manga stuff! Fire up your printer,
because it's time to add some great reads to the library!
Japan
Society
This organization has been sharing Japanese culture with The States,
along with the rest of the world, since waaaay before the anime boom;
heck, even since before the birth of the father of modern manga, Osamu
Tezuka! I'm talking 1907, folks. Something's always poppin' at Japan
Society: art and clothing exhibitions, screenings of films young and
old, and a lot more. They've even got a sweet little library, and,
if you can manage the scratch, plenty of language classes for all
levels of familiarity! The September 2000 matsuri (where I got that
potentially-life-endangering yellow headband) was a blast, but one
really cool exhibition I checked out earlier in 20IX, KRAZY!, focused
on visual culture...as it applies to anime, manga, and VIDEOGAMES!
Heck yeah! Amongst Zelda'd GameCubes and a Pac-Man/Galaga cocktail
machine, a Super NES jacked with Mario World was out for play as its
overseas packaging was chillin' in a nearby display. The hottest part
about this show...a HUGE corner dedicated to THE FIVE STAR STORIES!!!
Oooooooh,......HELL YEAH!!! If you're anywhere near Manhattan
and a fan of JPN, definitely check this place out!
[P.S. A few years ago, Japan
Society updated their logo to include a J drawn with a graceful brush
stroke. During my Graphic Design class in the spring of 2001, the
result of my task of redesigning their logo was quite similiar.
What a coinkydink...]
New
York-Tokyo
I once referred to my special Midtown Manhattan zone as "Tokyo,
New York", didn't I... ATTENTION NEIGHBORING CASTLEVANIACS!!!
If JPN is going down in NYC, be it concerts, screenings, or gaming
competitions, then NYT's ready to give you the heads-up! Sign up for
the mailers and get in line!
AKB48
Official Site
SUDDENLY, CUTE JAPANESE CHICKIES. DOZENS OF THEM. New York-Tokyo
had recently gotten me into Webster Hall for AKB48's free US Debut
concert featuring para-para J-Pop and charming costume changes (except
for that nature bit :| ). It took a sec to get into, but it was an
absolute BLAST, and we brought them back out for two or three encores
(the poor dears)! Here's All Their BASE of opelatianol, including
a clip or few of what they do best, Akiba-style, baybee!!!
